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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26022793">Well, that plan definitely went a-rye</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/butternutwaffles/pseuds/butternutwaffles'>butternutwaffles</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Persona 5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Medieval, First Meetings, Good Boy Sakamoto Ryuji, One Shot, Swearing</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 06:28:54</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,043</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26022793</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/butternutwaffles/pseuds/butternutwaffles</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>It was more of a spur of the moment thing, rather than a heist. Ryuji was just sick and tired of Lord Kamoshida being a jerk to him and his friends. The blonde heard scuffling and turned around. There stood a man, clad in a black coat with black hair.</p><p>Shit.</p><p>The man looked up, locking eyes with the blonde. Ryuji’s heartbeat sped up, gripping his shirt in fear. The man was definitely not a guard, but anyone seeing the blonde in the mansion this late at night was trouble. </p><p>Double shit. </p><p>- The work is more platonic if anything, but I personally like it so I put it there anyway</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Kurusu Akira/Sakamoto Ryuji, Persona 5 Protagonist &amp; Sakamoto Ryuji, Persona 5 Protagonist/Sakamoto Ryuji</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>38</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Well, that plan definitely went a-rye</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was more of a spur of the moment thing, rather than a heist. Ryuji was just sick and tired of Lord Kamoshida being a dick to him and his friends. Who cares if Kamoshida won some battle in some far off region? He didn’t act very noble-like, harassing anyone in the village of Shujin. </p><p>Today's incident in the centre of the village pissed Ryuji off. Threatening a new villager of execution and demanding even more food from the other villagers for no reason was so unfair. Ryuji may have provoked Kamoshida by trying to punch him, but he still was a rotten adult. Although Shiho had told Ryuji to be hesitant to mess with the bastard, Ryuji decided he should break into Kamoshida’s grandiose mansion. Ryuji had snuck out of his house, hauling a large tablecloth with him.</p><p>It was technically somewhat petty, breaking in to steal whatever the blonde could carry only because Ryuji felt angry. But Kamoshida was one person, and Ryuji doubted that one man would need all that food and money anyways. The bastard probably wouldn’t even notice if he took a few horses from the mansion’s stable.</p><p>Even with an injured knee, it was remarkably easy for the blonde to scale the wall surrounding the mansion. The crazy amount of trees nearby the mansion just made things easier. Ryuji grinned as he ran towards the northeast area of the mansion, where the food, where every villager's hard work,  was stashed. Even though Ryuji didn’t have the privilege of entering Kamoshida’s mansion often, he did know where their ‘taxes’ went. </p><p>Ryuji felt like the rumored phantom thief, who was dubbed ‘Joker’. Many villages like his own were saved by an illusive gentleman thief, who fed the poor and stole from the rich by carrying out well-planned, theatrical heists. Mishima often talked about the figure, as he was quite a fan of the deeds that the thief had done. </p><p>Spotting an open window in a high tower, the blonde silently cheered. Ryuji scaled the mansion's wall, with a graceless, clumsy style that a phantom thief certainly wouldn't have. The blonde struggled, finally reaching an open window. Lifting himself up against the windowsill, Ryuji threw the tablecloth into the room with a grunt. He immediately crawled into the room, happy to have his feet on stable ground. </p><p>The blonde gently straightened his knee slightly, sighing. Looking around the room, it was clear that Ryuji had hit the jackpot. The room was clearly storage for the food that Kamoshida and unfairly took. Bread, rolls, and wheat were all neatly put into shelves, filling the room the smell of grain. Preferably Ryuji would have preferred to have ended up in a room with money. Or meat. Or fruits. However, the blonde definitely did not want to leave the room, as he knew guards in each and every hallway. </p><p>Ryuji chuckled in glee. Whoever left the window open was going to regret it. The blonde quickly went to work, laying out the tablecloth on the floor. Although the rush that Ryuji felt for finally getting back at the asshole was exhilarating, if he was caught by anyone, he would be dead meat. </p><p>Ryuji quietly stacked bags of wheat, rolls and loaves of bread on the tablecloth. If Ryuji had taken a bite out of a baguette, no one knew. The blonde reached for yet another roll, before hearing scuffling from the window’s direction. </p><p>The blonde whipped his head around, holding his breath. If it was some guard, Ryuji was screwed. Watching intently, he watched as a red glove gripped the windowsill, coming into view. </p><p>Soon after, a man hoisted himself up, clad in a black coat with black hair. He also wore a white mask, obscuring his eyes. The man looked down, not yet noticing Ryuji, and brushed himself off. </p><p>Shit. </p><p>The man looked up, locking eyes with the blonde. Ryuji’s heartbeat sped up, gripping his shirt in fear. The man was definitely not a guard, but anyone seeing the blonde in the mansion this late at night was trouble. </p><p>The man’s face slowly formed a bewildered expression, mouth opening to speak. Before he could do that, Ryuji did whatever his first instinct was. </p><p>Forming his hand into a fist, the blonde punched the man in the face. </p><p>The blow was effective as the raven stumbled to the side and crumpled to the ground. Ryuji wasn’t sure if his uppercut was that strong, or if he had just caught the man by surprise. </p><p>Blood roaring in his ears, Ryuji quickly grabbed the corners of the tablecloth, tying it into a knot, creating a makeshift bag. Shoving a few more rolls in the bag, the blonde threw the bag onto his shoulder, and turned towards his window. </p><p>However the man had stood back up, rubbing the injured cheek with his hand. </p><p>Double shit. </p><p>The raven looked back at the blonde, and the two stood there, looking at one another. Ryuji shifted the bag on his shoulder to a more comfortable position. </p><p>The man spoke up first. “You aren’t supposed to be here.” A smooth voice said. </p><p>“You ain’t supposed to be here either.” Ryuji replied defensively. </p><p>The man stepped forward. “You got me there.” The two once again stood in silence. The blonde glanced up at the man, taking a closer look at the other. </p><p>The outfit the man wore was more flashy than he thought. Under the long black coat was a neat, grey vest. Wearing sleek, black shoes, and black pants, the other man looked well put together. Clothes a well-off man from the city would wear. Unlike Ryuji who was simply wearing a black shirt with a hood and pants. Looking closer at his face, the blonde could faintly see red eyes looking back at him. </p><p>White mask, a black coat, and red gloves. Ryuji felt like he had heard something about that before…Wait a minute…</p><p>“You’re that phantom thief! The one Mishima always talks about!” Ryuji said in realization, “What the ‘eff dude! You scared the hell out of-” </p><p>The phantom thief immediately covered the blonde’s mouth with a gloved hand, silencing him. The man raised a finger against his lips silently. Ryuji nodded, realizing his mistake.        </p><p>The raven backed off, sighing. “I am a phantom thief. The one that got dubbed ‘Joker’. And you’re the one who tried to attack Lord Kamoshida.”</p><p>Ryuji flushed. “Hold on! The only ones who saw that shit was Ann, Shiho and that new gu-“ Joker glared at the blonde. Oh. His voice. </p><p>Joker looked out the window. “I was going to explore a bit. But I guess the plan is a bust for today.” The raven said, adjusting his gloves. </p><p>Explore? Bust? Ryuji stood for a minute before realizing. Right. He wasn’t supposed to be here. Ryuji looked past the thief, looking out the window. He had left at sundown, as his mom was asleep by that time. The sky was a pitch black, with the stars and moon creating dim light upon the fields. It was pretty late, but time is probably important for a phantom thief, Ryuji supposes. </p><p>Ryuji looks back at the shelves one more time. Even though the shelves weren’t completely empty, he definitely took back more than enough for the village. Guess that shows how much of the greedy bastard Kamoshida is. </p><p>The two share eye contact once again before Ryuji clears his throat. “Well, nice meeting you man! But I got to steal from that asshole Kamoshida, so I gotta go!”</p><p>The raven nods, “I might as well go back too.” The two look at each other, before the thief turns away from the blonde. “You’re going to Shujin right?”</p><p>The blonde nods. “Hell yeah, are you going there too?” Joker smiles, nodding. He climbs out the window without a word. </p><p>The blonde shifts his bag, making sure it’s secure. Looking down, he sees Joker waiting at the bottom, his arms out. </p><p>“What’re you doing?” Ryuji asks, hoisting himself onto the windowsill. </p><p>Joker waves his arms, eyes shifting, looking for guards. ‘The bag!” He mouths. Ryuji nods, tossing the bread bag down to the raven. </p><p>The thief catches the bag, stumbling back. Ryuji slowly climbs down, grateful for the weight of the bag not being on his shoulders. The blonde reaches the ground, turning towards the other. </p><p>“Thanks man!” Ryuji smiles. He puts his arms out, opening and closing his fist, waiting for the bag. </p><p>The raven shakes his head. “It’s fine, I’ll carry it. I have an exit route.” Joker begins leaving, while Ryuji stood behind. The blonde wasn’t sure whether or not he should be offended. Well, Joker was a phantom thief, so he was probably more skilled with sneaking around. </p><p>Ryuji smiles, “You’re the boss!” The raven flusters rubbing the back of his neck with his free hand. Guess the phantom thief isn’t so used to taking compliments. </p><p>The two snook past the guards pretty easily. Maybe Kamoshida gave everyone a day off or something because Ryuji didn’t see a single guard on the way towards the mansion wall. The two walked towards a box of crates, stacked on top of one another. </p><p>Joker put the bread bag down, giving Ryuji a look of ‘don’t touch anything’. Ryuji nods, while Joker sighs in relief. He rolls up his sleeves, and pushes the crates slightly to the side, creating a makeshift staircase.        </p><p>“After you.” The raven jokes, giving an elegant bow. Ryuji chuckles, before climbing up the wooden boxes.</p><p>The highest box led to a hole in the mansion wall. Small, but big enough to fit someone through if they were lying down. Ryuji stood, waiting for the other boy.</p><p>The raven tosses the bread bag at the blonde boy, heaving. “You go first,” Joker says, “the other side should have another crate.” Ryuji nods again, turning towards the hole. </p><p>Hoisting himself and crawling through the hole, Ryuji realizes it was larger than it looked. Although it wasn’t incredibly comfortable, squirming through the hole was a lot easier than scaling the mansion wall. </p><p>The blonde reaches the other side easily. His feet reach another wooden crate, that is once again, stacked upon other crates. Joker was crazy prepared, for however long he spent planning. </p><p>Turning towards the wall, Ryuji sees the raven cramming the bag in the hole, pushing it to the other side. It was a slightly awkward affair, squeezing the large bag through, but the bag finally popped towards Ryuji’s side. </p><p>Ryuji grinned, hoisting the bag back on his shoulder, while Joker easily slipped through the hole. The two climbed down the crates, reaching the plain fields surrounding the mansion.</p><p>The two stand there, silently. Ryuji once again looks at the sky. Still dark, but in the horizon the blonde could see the slight gradient of black and blue. Guess it’s time to hurry home. </p><p>Ryuji smiles at Joker. “Thanks man, you helped me out a lot!”</p><p>Joker nodded. “No problem, it was nice meeting you.”</p><p>“Well, the suns gonna come up soon, so I gotta get going.” Ryuji says, “ Good luck with your, uh, thievery.” </p><p>Joker smiles, “I guess, I should leave too.” The two wave their goodbyes, before going their separate ways.</p><p>Ryuji began to run home, giggling to himself. He actually did it. Even though he technically got some help from someone else, Ryuji finally got back at Kamoshida. Running through the fields, Ryuji let out a cheer. </p><p> </p><p>Ryuji reached his home, adrenaline pumping through his veins. The blonde looped around the house, towards the window in his own room. Opening the window shutters, the blonde threw the bread bag inside. Ryuji flexed his arms. His muscles were incredibly sore from carrying the bag from the mansion. </p><p>Ryuji crawled through the window, quietly closing the window shutters after entering the house. The bread bag now sat innocently sitting on Ryuji’s bedroom floor. </p><p>Come to think of it, how would Ryuji give bread to everyone else? Although most of the village was somewhat aware of Kamoshida being an ass, Ryuji doubted that everyone would keep their mouth shut. </p><p>The blonde sighed, curling up on his own bed. It was too much thinking. He already did a lot today, and it was basically morning already. Ryuji decided to sleep on it.</p><p> </p><p>The village was bustling, with people running around doing their daily activities. Ryuji, on the other hand, was running around for a different reason. After stashing some bread in his own pantry, Ryuji decided putting the bags of wheat in some of the village farms was probably his best bet. He also planned to sneak some bread in other people's houses. </p><p>Ever since last night, Ryuji would think he was pretty good at sneaking around. Carrying around a bag of bread, Ryuji stopped by the Leblanc bakery. It was near the other farms and his own house. </p><p>Ryuji first looked around, making sure no one was nearby. Sneaking into the alleyway, the blonde ran to the back of the building. The alleyway was cramped, with buildings squished close together. The blonde looked around, trying to find an entry point. There was an open window near what Ryuji assumed was the attic. </p><p>Holding the bag with his teeth, Ryuji carefully climbed up towards the window by climbing between two buildings, leaning his back on one of them. </p><p>Finally reaching the window, Ryuji grasped onto the windowsill, throwing himself over. The blonde draped over the sill, tired. Ryuji looked up, to see a boy sitting on a nearby chair, a cat on his lap, with a shocked expression on his face. </p><p>Oh shit. </p><p>“Uh,” Ryuji began, grabbing the bag while squirming forward. Taking out a loaf of bread, Ryuji smiled. “You want some bread.” </p><p>The boy had black hair, with glasses. He was the new villager he saw the other day, Ryuji realized. Ryuji continued pulling himself off of the window sill, while the raven sat there blinking. </p><p>“Oh, but don’t tell Kamoshida that you got it from me. It’s like uh, a secret, y’know?” Ryuji rambled, setting the bag on the bed. Who sleeps in an attic? </p><p>The raven seemed to snap back to reality. “Because you stole them?” He chuckled. The cat swiftly sat up, and walked away from the boy. </p><p>“Yeah man, so don’t...” Ryuji started, “Wait, how did you know that?” </p><p>The raven stood up, looking at the blonde with a tired look. Ryuji stared back, trying to figure out how he knew about Ryuji’s crime. He felt like he had recognized the boy. Glancing at his hair, Ryuji tried to connect the dots. </p><p>The raven sighed, pulling out a white mask. Ryuji stared at the mask. The design looked familiar. Looking at the raven again, Ryuji gasped. </p><p>“Hold on, are you Joker!!” Ryuji said in realization. The raven slammed a hand onto the blonde's mouth, nodding. </p><p>The two stared at each other for a minute in awkward silence. The raven reached for the bag, pulling out a roll. Biting into it, the two stood, watching one another. </p><p>Joker swallowed. “You took more bread than this.” He said, gesturing towards the small bag. </p><p>Ryuji rubber the back of his neck. “Well I was plannin’ to drop off bags of bread in everyone’s house. Then sneak in the barns and leave the wheat there.” Saying the plan out loud made Ryuji realize the plan was a bit ridiculous. </p><p>“Everyone’s house?” Joker asks, scanning the blonde. </p><p>Ryuji stammers, “Y-yeah.” </p><p>“That’s a lot of houses.” </p><p>“I-I guess.”</p><p>“You got caught by me too. What about everyone else?”</p><p>Ryuji looks down at his feet, embarrassed. “W-Well I can’t be keepin’ all of that bread to myself.” </p><p>The raven sighs. “I guess I could...help you out.” </p><p>Ryuji perked up, gaping at the other. Getting help from a phantom would be super helpful… But Ryuji didn’t even know the dude. However he also helped Ryuji escape the mansion last night…</p><p>“How can I trust you? I don’t even know your name man.” Ryuji said slowly, kicking his leg forward awkwardly. </p><p>The raven looks up, confused. “I don’t know yours either?” Good point. </p><p>Joker sighs, taking his hand out. “I’m Akira Kurusu, nice to meet you.” </p><p>Ryuji took Akira’s hand instinctively. “Nice to meet’cha. Name’s Ryuji.” The two shake hands, sharing a smile. </p><p>Akira grabs the bread bag, looking at it thoughtfully. “How much bread do you have?”</p><p>Ryuji sighed, sitting down on the bed. “Enough for about three loaves per person.” Ryuji scratched his head. “Man, I even brought the biggest tablecloth.” </p><p>Akira smiled. “What if we went back? And stole another haul of bread.” </p><p>The blonde looked up, shocked. Ryuji hadn’t seen Kamoshida yet, but there had been no word that Kamoshida found out about the stolen bread. He honestly was planning to lay low for a bit. As much as he hates the guy, Ryuji definitely didn’t want to get caught. </p><p>Taking Ryuji’s hesitance as a rejection, Akira looked down at his feet. “Or we can just work with what we have.” </p><p>Ryuji looked up. “No man, it does sound nice, but I’m kinda worried, y’know.” </p><p>“You’ve got a phantom thief on your side.” Akira said cockily. “I was planning to search the mansion anyway.” </p><p>“What are ya planning’ to steal anyway?” Ryuji asked, fiddling with his sleeve. </p><p>The raven looked to the side. “Usually I steal something that has a lot of significance to whoever is the target. I send a calling card, making demands for the people. The target usually refuses and I steal from them.” Akira shifts his weight onto his other foot. “It’s then used as ransom, for the people to confess their sins.”</p><p>Ryuji nods. “Well, I don’t really get it, but Kamoshida won a badge of honor. From the King back when he won some battle.” </p><p>Akira nodded. “Well I guess that’s it. We can explore the mansion tonight. Maybe we can meet up in the outskirts of the village.” The raven paused, before backtracking. “Only if you want to join me, of course.” He says, turning to the blonde.</p><p>Ryuji stares, before smiling. “Does this mean I’m a phantom thief? Dude, we’re like partners in crime?” </p><p>Akira smiled. “Is that a deal? “</p><p>“Hell yeah!”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Honestly I feel like the work is some kind of cluttered mess, I didn't check it over once I finished and it might feel a bit rushed. If I don't die from embarrassment this heat sure will. I might do a revision later but I have no idea what I'm doing.</p><p>Nevertheless, I hope you enjoyed the work, and I encourage comments, I like my ego stroked. Thank you so much for reading and have a nice day!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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